This Was My Mother's
by CrazyJan57
Summary: Victoria makes a discovery, while examining her engagement ring. Short, one shot story. Based on NW Zorro


**This Was My Mother's**

Disclaimer – I don't own the rights, Zorro Productions Inc does - I just like to play with the characters.

Plot - Victoria makes a discovery while studying her engagement ring.

* * *

Victoria sat up on her bed, her bandaged ankle supported by a pillow, gazing down at the ring Zorro had given her. A ring so magnificent, so beautiful and oh so very expensive, that she knew that no peon could afford such an item. Not only could no peon could own it but no merchant that she knew of, could afford it either. The craftsmanship of the ring, of the setting of the gemstone was of such fine quality that only a wealthy man could afford to buy it.

There were only a handful of wealthy families, in and around the Los Angeles area, who could afford the exquisite piece of jewellery and that knowledge caused her heart to beat faster and for her stomach tightened, in the realisation she could uncover Zorro's identity from the ring alone.

She closed her eyes and visualised each of the families in her mind, discarding the elder Dons, for only a young man could be as agile as Zorro. She focused on the sons and slowly discounted all but three from the group of the young caballeros in the area; five were married with children, another two were engaged to be married, one was overweight and the other had a bad limp resulting from a childhood accident. That left Don Antonio, Don Javier and oddly enough Don Diego de la Vega. All three men were of the right age, all fit and healthy, all unmarried or otherwise unattached and all came from wealthy families.

She opened her eyes and gazed down at the ring once more. What did Zorro say to her at the time, she thought to herself, as she struggled to remember his words, "I know," she murmured softly, "He said the ring was his mother's," she paused as mulled over his words, "The ring was his mother's...WAS...his mother's, not IS his mother's. Does that mean...his mother...is no longer alive?"

Or was she reading too much into his words.

But as she turned the ring over in her hand, her mind refused to let go of the idea. Of the three men, only Don Javier's mother was alive. Don Antonio's mother had passed away only the year before and Diego's mother had died almost sixteen years ago. Could one of these two men be Zorro? Don Antonio or Don Diego?

Then her heart pounded faster in her chest, when she remembered Don Antonio had returned to Los Angeles from Mexico City, just a month prior to the death of their former Alcalde, Luis Ramone at Devil's Fortress. It was simply not possible for Don Antonio to be Zorro. And that left...

Diego de la Vega.

"Madre de dios!" she exclaimed as she realised the truth of the situation, "It can't be, can it?"

"What can it be, Victoria?" came a familiar voice.

Victoria let out small noise, a cross between a scream and a sob, as she clenched her fist around the ring, looked up and saw Zorro standing in the doorway of her room.

Zorro stepped forward, "Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you."

She couldn't reply, as her throat had constricted at the sight of Diego, wearing Zorro's clothes, standing near the end of her bed, and along with the fact that she had only just discovered the identity of the man under the mask without having time to come to terms with it, also brought tears to her eyes.

"What's wrong Victoria?" Zorro asked worriedly as he came closer, "Is it your ankle? Is it still sore? Perhaps I should have brought more of the cactus tea for you."

She shook her head, "I...I...It's not...my ankle." she stammered.

"Then what it is?" he asked as he knelt down beside the bed, "I want to help, if I can." He added as he reached out and gently caressed her face with his gloved hand.

She felt her tears fall as she gazed into Diego's blue eyes, showing his concern, his love, through the mask, "Can...you...you hold me?" she whispered.

He immediately rose, "Of course I can." he replied as he carefully sat on the edge of the bed, being mindful of his sword hilt, and pulled her into his arms. He was unsure of what was troubling her but he would do anything to try and ease her distress.

Victoria nestled in Zorro's, no Diego's comforting arms, her head resting against his firm chest, feeling and hearing his heart beat. The shock of the sudden discovery faded, along with her tears but now her anger grew. Not at Diego but at herself. Oh, how could she have been so blind not to see it before, not to notice what was right in front of her all along, she cursed herself. And all the hurtful things she had said over the years to him and how he seemed to accept her remarks as though it meant nothing to him. But it had. No wonder he believed that she didn't care for the man under the mask.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Zorro planted a soft kiss to her head, "Sorry for what."

"Sorry for hurting you." She replied.

"I don't understand," he said, "You haven't hurt me."

She sighed as she pulled away from his embrace, "Yes I have and I'm sorry for the pain I must have caused to you." She opened her hand and held out the ring.

He stiffened, "Have you changed your mind?"

"Oh no, I haven't changed my mind," she sort to reassure him, "But I'm giving it back to you, so the man can ask me directly. Without the mask." She added as she pressed the ring into his gloved hand.

"But -"

Victoria gently pressed her finger against his lips to silence him, "But nothing Zorro," she replied, "Besides he maybe surprised by the answer."

Zorro's eyebrow rose under his mask, "Surprised? But that would mean..." his voice trailed off as the realisation of the situation, hit him, "You know, don't you."

"Know what?" She quipped.

"Victoria." He replied in a low, warning tone. He wasn't in the mood for games.

"No more hiding behind the mask, Zorro," she said, "Remove it, so we can get on with our lives. I love the man under the mask, he's always been there for me, and he's my closest friend. And I hope one day to be my husband and the father of my children."

He gazed intently at her, hearing the truth of her words, and yet it was hard to give up the secret he had lived with for years, "But the threat to you is still there -"

She shook her head, "Then we'll face it together. Together we are stronger. Take off the mask."

Zorro sighed as he finally gave into the inevitable. He knew this day had been coming, the day to stop hiding and to start living. He reached up and slid the mask from his head, "How?"

Victoria smiled lovingly as she gazed at Diego's face, saw his uncertainty written in his blue eyes, "I worked it out by the ring and what you said about it being your mother's."

He shook his head, "I should have known it would be to greater a clue but I needed to give you reassurance of my -" Whatever else he was going to say, disappeared from his mind as he found himself on the receiving end of a tender kiss. He was too stunned to do anything except to pull back, "Victoria?"

She smiled, "I needed to give you reassurance of my love." She replied.

"Your love?" Diego asked uncertainty as he started reached out but stopped, "Is it me or Zorro you love."

"Both of you," she replied, "You are him and he is you. You can't separate the two of you with just a mask; you can't hide your true self with a piece of fabric."

"'The courage and passion that lives in Zorro's heart, also lives in his.'" He quoted her words to her.

"Exactly," she replied, "Hear me when I say, I love you Diego de la Vega."

This time Diego reached out with both his hands and gently cupped her face before he kissed her lovingly, "I love you too, Victoria," he whispered against her lips, "Marry me."

She reluctantly pulled away, his hands dropping from her face, "No."

"No?"

She grinned, "No. For now," she said, "I want Diego de la Vega to court me publicly, properly and then after a period of time -" she stopped and raised an eyebrow.

Diego chuckled and shook his head, "I understand," he replied, "I should have done that from the beginning."

"Yes, you should have," she gently reprimanded him, "But what's done is done. We can't change the past but we can change the present," she paused for a moment, "But the big problem is, how are we going to convince the people, especially de Soto that I love you and not Zorro."

Diego sighed, "I don't know," he replied, "We need to come up with a plan, a plan convincing enough to through off any suspicions they will inevitably come to."

She nodded, "That's true," she paused again and smiled softly, "But we don't have to decide right now, Diego."

He smiled, "You're right." He replied as leant over and claimed her lips in a tender, loving kiss, which soon threatened to overwhelm them both with their passions.

He pulled back, "I best be going, Victoria," he said hoarsely as he stood up and quickly retied his mask, "It won't be long, Victoria, before we are together." He added before he leant down and gave her one last kiss, and then he was gone.

The End

* * *

I hope you liked this short reveal.

I had recently re-watched the entire series and its strange how you can pick up different things with each viewing. This time around I really noticed the line Zorro said to Victoria when he gave her the ring - "This was my mother's" and then I had one of those "aha" moments. I knew I could do something with that line, and so this reveal about her recalling those same words, came about.

Inspiration can strike anytime, with any prompt :)


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